Rona Walter - Raised by Skye, Rewritten by Shadows

Born on the Isle of Skye, Rona Walters was raised by her grandfather from age three to fourteen — a man who enrolled her in ballet before she could even understand what discipline meant. By four, she was already in a ballet club, dancing with a seriousness most adults never find. She stayed there until fourteen, when her life shifted dramatically.

She was moved into a private school and forced to negotiate for every moment she could keep dancing. Even as she rose through the ranks — always the first dancer, always the one they relied on — she was never named Prima Ballerina. Always the alternate. Always the almost.

She stopped dancing at twenty‑three.

In college, she discovered Lovecraft, and something in her cracked open. Writing became the new stage. Her first gothic novel, The Human Dress, became a major success in Germany. From there she moved into filmmaking — her feature Toxica, then a ghost story, then a Harry Potter fan film — each one a reinvention, a reclamation.

During the episode, I also share my own London story — the infamous one I've never told on air until now — and we talk about the surreal joy of having our books sold in a tiny bookstore in South Africa. Two artists from opposite ends of the world, finding themselves on the same shelf.